Key Notes
- The Nasdaq fell 2.32%, the S&P 500 lost 1.45% and the Dow declined 0.63% in regular-session snapshots around 15:20 UTC.
- Intel sank about 28% as weak guidance intensified a broader chip selloff, with AMD, Nvidia and Broadcom also trading lower.
- Consumer-staples and healthcare ETFs advanced as investors favored defensive sectors, while final October returns remained unsettled before the close.
US stocks fell on Friday, October 30, as a steep semiconductor selloff pushed the Nasdaq Composite down more than 2% and investors favored consumer staples and healthcare. The final trading day of October exposed a widening gap between technology shares and more defensive parts of the market.
Yahoo Finance index snapshots around 15:20 UTC showed:
- Nasdaq: 25,578.17, down 606.55 points, or 2.32%.
- S&P 500: 7,608.08, down 112.31 points, or 1.45%.
- Dow: 52,013.60, down 328.96 points, or 0.63%.
These were regular-session intraday readings, before the US close. The Dow’s smaller decline contrasted with the heavier losses in chipmakers and AI infrastructure companies, while earnings guidance and cash generation remained central concerns.
Intel Leads a Broad Chip Selloff
Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) traded at $66.26, down 28.03%, in a Yahoo Finance quote at 15:21 UTC. Its weak fourth-quarter outlook extended the decline that began after Thursday’s earnings release.
The company forecast quarterly revenue of $15 billion–$16 billion and adjusted earnings of $0.25 a share. As we reported earlier, that guidance disappointed investors even though third-quarter adjusted EPS beat expectations. Weak PC demand complicated the picture despite strong data-center growth.
The pressure spread across the sector. Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) fell 9.42% to $513.06, Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) dropped 3.43% to $206.34, and Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO) lost 5.30% to $326.71 in Yahoo snapshots at approximately 15:22 UTC.
Those simultaneous declines broadened the impact beyond Intel’s company-specific outlook. They also showed how disappointment at one major supplier can coincide with a reassessment of the wider infrastructure trade, even when individual businesses face different demand conditions.
Amazon Recovers Some Earlier Losses
Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) was down 1.03% at $241.27 at 15:21 UTC, substantially above its earlier premarket levels. The recovery reduced its percentage loss, but the company’s results remained a focus of the broader selloff.
Amazon reported third-quarter sales of $201.9 billion and diluted earnings of $1.89 a share, while maintaining an approximately $220 billion cash capital-spending plan for 2026. Its release showed negative free cash flow of $42.4 billion for the trailing 12 months ended September 30.
That rolling annual outflow is distinct from a single quarter’s cash performance and from an accounting loss. AWS revenue grew 39.3%, highlighting the tension between strong cloud demand and the immediate cost of expanding capacity.
Our earlier report examined that distinction. Friday’s changing share price also illustrates why premarket moves should not be presented as the final reaction to an earnings release.
Defensive Sectors Offer Relative Shelter
The State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSE Arca: XLP) rose 1.33% to $89.36 in a snapshot at 15:12 UTC. The State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSE Arca: XLV) gained 1.06% to $185.99 at 15:18 UTC.
Both funds were higher while the major equity benchmarks were lower. Consumer staples and healthcare led the defensive side of the session, a pattern also tracked in CNBC’s market updates.
The price divergence supports a picture of investors becoming more selective rather than selling every sector equally. It does not, by itself, measure net fund flows or establish that defensive shares will continue outperforming.
For diversified portfolios, the distinction matters: a technology-heavy benchmark can fall much more sharply than another broad index when investors reassess the companies carrying the greatest earnings and valuation expectations.
AI Infrastructure Shares Face Further Pressure
CoreWeave Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWV) fell 9.25% to $55.12, while Nebius Group (NASDAQ: NBIS) lost 7.97% to $158.28 in readings around 15:22 UTC. Their losses added another layer to the weakness in AI-related shares.
Yahoo Finance’s live coverage described renewed concern about the scale of Big Tech’s AI investment. For infrastructure suppliers, the questions include customers’ future spending and the financing needed to build and operate additional capacity.
The current session follows the spending concerns we previously covered. Strong demand for computing does not guarantee identical returns across chipmakers, cloud operators and companies financing data centers.
October’s Final Session Remains Unfinished
In its Friday update, CNBC said the Nasdaq was heading for an October decline of nearly 5%, compared with roughly 0.6% for the S&P 500, while the Dow remained on course for a gain above 2%. Those were month-to-date indications before the closing bell, not final monthly results.
Earnings outside technology also provided a contrast. Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) and ExxonMobil Holdings Corp. (NYSE: XOM) reported strong refining contributions and substantial cash generation, as we reported earlier Friday.
The market’s next test is whether the weakness stays concentrated in technology or spreads more widely. At the verified snapshot, semiconductor losses dominated the Nasdaq, while gains in defensive sectors limited the damage elsewhere. The closing levels and final October returns were still to be determined.
